Category Archives: British World War Two Tanks

The A10 was designed by the same person who created the A9, Sir John Carden, and sported a number of similar features.
Like many early WWII tanks of Britain, it was a bit slapdash in its build quality.
For instance, it had the same turret and hull design of its predecessor only it had the two

This is the second, and perhaps more famous, tank to be named Matilda. This is a much updated version of its predecessor and far more in-line with modern, contemporary tank designs. Though, originally, the British had hoped to simply update the older version with new equipment to save money.
Thankfully, due to many shortcomings of the

The A13 Mark II was the bulkier big brother of the A13, with added armor for better protection that was made from special steel plates positioned to eliminate shot traps. An example of this was the v-shaped plates added to the turret to deflect strikes, where the previous tank's turret was a flat surface.

The A13 Mark III Cruiser Tank Mark V Covenanter, which was built by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway Company, was in service from 1940 to 1943.
To reduce production costs, it used many of the parts for the A13 Mark II, on which its design was based.
A Meadows Flat-12 engine was built specifically for this

The A15 Cruiser Tank Mark VI Crusader was the primary British tank from spring 1941 until the American Sherman tank arrived.
The A15 was built by Nuffields and was ready by March 1940. By 1943, 5,300 Crusaders had been produced.
To reduce costs and production time, as well as vehicle weight, Nuffields used many of the components

Vickers built the A17 Light Tank Mark VII Tetrarch in 1937.
It had a unique suspension which included large road wheels that could be partially skid-steered. This helped the tank to turn more efficiently.
The Tetrarch, which was originally known as the Purdah, was accepted by the British Army in 1938. However it could not be produced

The A22 Infantry Tank Mark IV Churchill was the first British tank to be designed entirely during World War II.
It remained in production throughout the war and was one of the most popular British tanks during the war.
The first model, which had a 3 inch (76.2 mm) close support howitzer in its nose and a

The A24 Cruiser Tank Mark VII Cavalier was designed to be an improvement over the Crusader and its predecessors. The Cavalier weighed 5 tons more than the crusader and had a larger (6 pounder) gun, thicker armor, wider tracks and a better suspension than the Crusader.
However, the Cavalier used the same engine and power train

The A25 Light Tank Mark VIII Harry Hopkins was the last of the Vickers Light series.
It was called the Harry Hopkins after the advisor to President Roosevelt, and was originally known as Tank, Light Mark VII, revised.
Like its predecessors, the A25 was smaller, more vulnerable and less reliable than the opposition's tanks.
There were some improvements

The A27L Cruiser Tank Mark VIII Centaur was originally designed to have a Rolls-Royce Meteor engine. However, production shortages dictated that all of those engines that were produced had to be used in aircraft.
Therefore, the Centaur was fitted with a Liberty V12 engine.
Some A27Ls had their engines upgraded and were armed with 3.74in (95mm) howitzers.

The A27M Cruiser Tank Mark VIII Cromwell was fitted with a 600 horsepower V12 Rolls-Royce Meteor engine, which made it the fastest, most reliable Cruiser tank in existence at the time it was built.
In other respects, it resembled the Cavalier and the Centaur.
From 1944 to 1945, the Cromwell and the American Sherman M4 were the

The A34 Cruiser Tank Comet was the first British tank to begin to match the overall performance of Germany's PzKpfw V Panther.
It was designed to match German firepower, speed and protection, which the Cromwell and the Centaur could not do.
The Comet had a similar layout to the Cromwell, and kept many of the Cromwell's components